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Archive for December, 2010

In a previous post, I was contemplating whether or not to create a new Facebook profile. Well, I jumped the gun and currently have over 150 “friends.” I admit fb has its appeal, and its really a convenient way of re-connecting with people you knew from way back when.

But often I find the urge to hide a particular post, or in some cases, a particular person. I get that people are vain, and the novelty of the virtual bulletin board has people wanting to share more and more about their lives. However, there is such a thing as sharing too much information. And quite frankly, sometimes people, we just don’t effing care!

Games… Ah, FarmVille, the virtual piece of land you tend incessantly to grow crops and herd weird-looking farm animals. And Mafia Wars, the escape hub of the Dons wanna-be’s. These are but a few of the countless social-network-based games that promise you a fun experience while eating up all your time. At some point in my previous fb account, I spent more time playing games like these than I want to admit. Now, no more. If I ever see a post generated by one of these facebook games, click goes the mouse button. Game hidden. Ha, take that Zynga!

Friend requests… Once in a while you’ll get that invite from some person that makes you go, “Do I know you?” Sometimes you actually do, but often, you don’t. What I do is go to the potential friend’s page and see which “friends” we have in common. If that doesn’t help jog the memory, it’s only a matter of asking around who that person really is. But if I don’t see a common friend in there, sorry potential virtual friend, you’ll forever be waiting for that confirmation that will never come.

Then of course, the opposite can happen… You find someone you think you know, send them that little invite and wait around for them to confirm. Generally, I send out invites to someone who is at least an acquaintance. Funny thing with facebook, if you send out an invite for a friend, you get their posts in your newsfeed, *even if* they haven’t confirmed you yet. So if I see one post from them but no confirmation, no worries, they’ve probably just overlooked the request. But if posts come day in and day out with no confirmation in sight, it’s high time to cancel the invite. Surely, I’m the one waiting for a confirmation that’s never coming this time around.

It’s fun to know what your friends are up to, at least on a general basis. It’s even helpful in maintaining that fragile bond called friendship. But when people’s vanities overtake their sense of reason, I find it very tempting to remove that person from my newsfeed, and I have a couple of spammers already on my list. Opinionated? Great, post one and be over with it. But flood my wall with incessant whining and you’re on the list, buddy. And, for the love of all things holy, not all your friends need to know you went to this or that place at this or that time. Are you so vain that you think everyone needs to know your whereabouts all the time? Really? You think you’re that important?Turn that damned feature off, it’s really annoying!

When your posts are a play-by-play account of what YOU did today, maybe it’s time you turned that computer or phone off and lived your life, truly lived your life. When you’re with friends, and you’re tweeting or posting how much a blast it is you’re having hanging out with them… just stop and think. Are you really? Are THEY?